Wanxi Rebirth - Chapter 26

After taking the elixir, Qin Suoliu sat down in place, closed her eyes, and circulated her spiritual power.

Yue Tingxi stayed by her side, her heart filled with a complex mix of emotions.

“Azhi” had truly grown up. If it had been twenty years ago, brazenly gnawing on her hand like that would have been reckless, but the little girl still dared to do it, as if accusing her of carelessly harming her.

Now, so quiet… she couldn’t tell if it was life and cultivation that had tempered her temperament, or if she had naturally become more composed with age.

Yue Tingxi didn’t disturb her meditation. She sat cross-legged nearby, silently accompanying her.

She knew this child had always been strong-willed, and rushing in to help without permission would only make her angry.

Normally, meditation required a calm mind, but hearing Qin Suoliu’s breathing so close, Yue Tingxi found she couldn’t settle her thoughts.

Even though she suppressed the scariest of her guesses and treated Qin Suoliu’s words as the current reality—a blood-tinged future not yet retrieved—the lingering sense of grievance alongside those suppressed thoughts still flickered in her mind.

She didn’t know what to do with them for now and could only set them aside. But being naturally impatient, she couldn’t leave them unanswered, endlessly turning them over in her mind.

And if Qin Suoliu hadn’t yet regained those memories, asking would have been pointless.

So, after failing to meditate, Yue Tingxi took out the Mustard Seed Ice Wheel to occupy herself with something that required focus, redirecting her attention.

The Mustard Seed Ice Wheel was a blood-contract artifact, but when she checked, she found that Qingyu Shanren had already erased the blood contract, probably to make it easier for her to use.

Yue Tingxi cut her finger and let a drop of blood seal the contract. She then felt a faint pull—the artifact asking if she wished to enter.

She relaxed and let her spiritual awareness follow the pull into the artifact’s inner illusion.

After a moment of darkness, her vision suddenly brightened.

Looking around, Yue Tingxi saw a platform beneath her shaped like a tree stump—only far larger than a normal one, probably bigger than the Qin family’s training ground.

She examined the surroundings and listened to the various features embedded by the craftsman in the artifact, confirming this was the training ground chosen by Qingyu Shanren. Since he liked trees, this platform exuded a natural atmosphere.

Not wanting to ruin the carefully prepared setting, she willed the massive tree stump to vanish, replaced by the familiar Qin family training ground.

They would start practicing on flat terrain familiar to both her and the young lady, gradually increasing difficulty.

“Both participants’ cultivation levels?”

Just as Yue Tingxi was about to make further arrangements, Qingyu Shanren’s slightly lazy voice echoed from above.

Yue Tingxi: …

It seemed Qingyu Shanren had also set up prompts to adjust the sparring levels.

She felt reassured, yet oddly self-conscious, as if he were watching her and Qin Suoliu spar.

“Both participants’ cultivation levels?” Qingyu Shanren asked again.

Since the cultivation system existed, the realms used by both clans had changed countless times. For now, the lower levels were “Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Out-of-Body,” with higher levels being Tribulation and Great Completion.

But this didn’t concern her, a mere hundred-year-old little demon.

The snake clan’s Nascent Soul form was special: even after forming a nascent core, it still retained the appearance of a Yuan Dan, with a small snake inside representing the body.

“Late-stage Nascent Soul,” she confirmed.

“Suppress?”

Yue Tingxi thought for a moment. “Suppress to early Nascent Soul.”

Because her spiritual energy influenced the young lady’s state, the first sparring session would be slightly easier.

“How’s the weather?”

“Sunny.” Yue Tingxi replied, thinking of the Xuan Shui secret realm that would open in a month. It had three layers, with the top and bottom submerged entirely in water.

To simulate combat in the Xuan Shui realm, once she was familiar with Qin Suoliu’s attack style and habits, she would adjust the weather to rainy or stormy.

A fire-elemental cultivator would be affected in a humid environment, and grown-up Qin Suoliu was sensitive to moisture, feeling uncomfortable without drying heat.

While Yue Tingxi fiddled with the Mustard Seed Ice Wheel, Qin Suoliu secretly observed her using her gray moth.

The damage to her meridians wasn’t severe; repairing them only took a little time. If not for thinking about sparring with Yue Tingxi, she could have left it be.

After half the night, she finally restored her major and minor meridians, opening her eyes.

Yue Tingxi still held the white jade plate, eyes closed but not asleep.

Qin Suoliu wondered aloud, “Tingxi?”

“Hmm?” Yue Tingxi immediately opened her eyes and looked at her. “Feeling better?”

“Yes, fine now.” Qin Suoliu said, glancing at the jade plate in her hands.

“Oh! This is the excellent sparring ground I mentioned before,” Yue Tingxi instinctively tried to hand it to her but quickly withdrew. “Not tonight, you need rest. Healing consumes spiritual energy—spar tomorrow!”

She stored the Mustard Seed Ice Wheel in her Dantian and collapsed onto her soft white fox-fur mat, breathing steadily after a long night of sparring against Qingyu Shanren’s leftover illusions.

Qin Suoliu, seeing Yue Tingxi asleep, gently brushed aside the slightly messy hair and untied her hair ribbon, letting her black hair fall freely.

Tonight, her elder sister seemed more relaxed than usual, not just unconsciously, but while awake.

“Why is Tingxi lost in thought?”

A young voice spoke nearby. Yue Tingxi instinctively looked up.

They were sitting on a thick branch of a spiritual tree, legs dangling.

The little girl in purple swung her legs, tilting her head to meet her gaze.

After a few seconds, Yue Tingxi slightly remembered. The little girl wanted to sit on the tree; Yue Tingxi had to get stable first before letting her sit on her tail.

She answered with her current thoughts: “Thinking about… things no one can solve.”

That was truly about past grudges and old resentments.

In fact, Qingyu Shanren had already indicated a path for her, but she still dwelled on the brief encounter twenty years ago. She couldn’t bring herself to be harsh with the grown-up “Azhi.”

The little girl blinked. “Can I do something for Tingxi to make you happy?”

Yue Tingxi felt a strange awareness. The little girl in her memories had been fiery, rarely speaking so cautiously.

But she didn’t overthink it. Perhaps because she had been recovering memories about the little girl, and having learned of her relationship with the young lady, she subconsciously hoped for an apology from Qin Suoliu.

After a few moments, Yue Tingxi reached out and pinched Azhi’s cheeks.

The little girl lifted her chin slightly, obediently letting her knead.

…” Yue Tingxi murmured, “Clever, turning into a big fox as you grow… will bite…”

She sighed: “Innocent demon, and yet you can still manipulate…”

If she had not helped back then, the young Qin Suoliu abducted by Lan Zhaoyao would have been someone else, and countless innocents would have suffered from the ensuing war.

She didn’t know what Qin Suoliu had experienced in the demon realm. Even if she had endured the same fate, could she have maintained her moral boundary?

This knot could not be untied; she could only accept it and tell herself everything could start anew.

“Was it a bad person you met?” Azhi asked.

Yue Tingxi smiled. “Not yet. There were before… but it’s over now.”

She hoped the future would remain so.

“But that person made you unhappy!” Azhi said. “That’s why you’re lost in thought and sad now!”

“Not necessarily.” Yue Tingxi glanced aside. “I was outmatched, failed to see the spell, and so… it didn’t start. Naturally, there was no aftermath.”

“Not your fault!”

Unexpectedly, the little “firecracker” exploded beside her: “Spellcasters are unforgivable! You must not blame yourself!”

Yue Tingxi was stunned but couldn’t help laughing, rubbing the little girl’s head.

As Qingyu Shanren often said, dreams are manifestations of the subconscious. She had manifested the purest form of the little girl to negate her own self-blame.

Indeed, she hadn’t been at fault in the past.

The only mistake, perhaps, was interfering with Lan Zhaoyao twenty years ago. Otherwise, young Qin Suoliu would have perished or suffered grave injuries, unable to become the present-day head of the Qin family.

Thinking this, Yue Tingxi wrapped her snake tail around Azhi.

“Let me entangle you for a while,” she softly requested.

Azhi moved slightly, opening her arms for a comforting hug.

Yue Tingxi didn’t refuse nor stop her, letting the little girl bury her head in her embrace.

Unconsciously, Yue Tingxi felt her consciousness sink into a comforting darkness.

Outside, it was nearly daylight, with birds chirping in the courtyard.

Qin Suoliu uncoiled Yue Tingxi’s tail and went to fetch water, rinsing her mouth of the blood from healing.

The gray moth rested on her shoulder, wings fluttering.

“I wish I could use your power to strip those memories from Tingxi’s soul…” she murmured, self-deprecating.

But even a brief dream sequence was unbearable; erasing causality entirely was out of the question.

The gray moth folded its wings and vanished.

The next morning, Yue Tingxi woke near noon.

She remembered sleeping soundly in the young lady’s chamber the first night, despite the room belonging to a past enemy. Her body had sensed Qin Suoliu’s identity before her mind did.

Stretching, she noticed her snake tail sprawled across the floor. No matter—Azhi wouldn’t mind.

After washing and tying her hair, Yue Tingxi went to the Fish-Viewing Pavilion, a favorite spot of the young lady for reading or resting.

She found only a few attendants.

“Breakfast, Tingxi? Porridge and snacks are warm,” asked the eldest, most reliable female attendant.

“…Fine, just two things, don’t trouble yourselves,” Yue Tingxi replied. “Where is the young lady today?”

“She went to the underground private prison,” a younger attendant answered.

That was where they interrogated or studied He Shen, with Qin Suoliu’s mother assisting. All Qin family members were under a gag spell.

Yue Tingxi thought of the living puppet she had saved. After a medicinal bath, the girl slowly regained consciousness, though her memories were fuzzy. Yue Tingxi hoped to give her tasks to focus on, easing her mind.

She finished breakfast, then went to the library to find Qin Yinguang, the Qin family’s second young lady, to visit her.

Qin Yinguang had been buried in books, studying dark arts. Yue Tingxi was already familiar with her. Upon seeing Yue Tingxi, the girl looked up eagerly.

“Going to see that sister again?” she asked.

Yue Tingxi followed her to the recovering girl’s room. Two medical cultivators watched over her. She glanced at the records and suggested giving the girl tasks to redirect her attention, letting her speak when ready.

She thought of herself: whether five years as a puppet or a month locked on the Demon Suppression Platform, she would have preferred to forget everything—but forgetting meant losing clarity of her enemies.

The surviving victims were only half still mentally aware; the rest had been permanently dealt with.

Yue Tingxi took note and, with Qin Yinguang, left the room. The second young lady disliked bloody places, so she only accompanied her to the entrance of the private prison.

Outside, Yue Tingxi saw a bloodied person emerge from the barrier.

Qin Suoliu hadn’t expected her, quickly performing cleansing spells to tidy up, though some blood remained visible.

“Still no clues about the demons?” Yue Tingxi asked calmly.

“Not yet, but the gray moth detected something inside him,” Qin Suoliu said. “It’s heavily sealed; removing it may take three to five days.”

“Perhaps related to demons or the demon realm?” Yue Tingxi’s heart skipped.

“Not sure, but let’s assume so for now,” Qin Suoliu replied. “Since interrogation failed, and no clues were found on him, we must search his body.”

She then shifted the topic: “Tingxi, free now? I’m restless and want to spar.”

Yue Tingxi could not refuse, knowing sometimes a person just needed an outlet.

Having teased her the night before, Qin Suoliu was eager to try.

They returned to the chamber, entered the protective barrier, and arrived at a quiet room. Yue Tingxi summoned the Mustard Seed Ice Wheel between them.

“Send your spiritual awareness inside,” she instructed.

Qin Suoliu did, but immediately felt a scrutinizing gaze, like ice running through her body, as if being examined from head to toe.

It reminded her of the watchful eyes upon entering the protective barrier at Xi Shan.

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